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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27308500">this is why i dont talk to pretty boys</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jisungtinydick/pseuds/jisungtinydick'>jisungtinydick</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EXO (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Blood and Gore, Horror, M/M, Shy Do Kyungsoo | D.O, Slow Burn, i feel so bad for kyungsoo, kyungsoo is gay but like thats his doom, sorry exo, woozi is non binary thats not important to the plot but its pretty cool</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:13:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,856</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27308500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jisungtinydick/pseuds/jisungtinydick</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyungsoo stands dead still. What the fuck is he looking at? Is that.. no.. no it can't be... His mind is playing tricks on him, because it's late and dark and he's paranoid. He pretends he doesn't hear the scream or see the red dripping to the concrete. He pretends he doesn't see him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Byun Baekhyun/Do Kyungsoo | D.O, Lee Jihoon | Woozi/Park Chanyeol</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kyungsoo stares at the worn-down wooden door glaring at him. He glances behind him as the taxi drives off, leaving him with no choice but to open it with an obnoxious creak, and taking a big, brave stride inside his new home.</p><p>The first thing he notices is how <em>dark</em> it is – it’s a fairly sunny day outside in Busan but he can't see a damn thing once the door slams shut. Kyungsoo’s already starting to grow some sort of hatred for that fucking door – why is it so <em>loud?</em> Sighing, he fumbles around the walls, wincing when the lights flicker horribly a few seconds after he finds the switch. The bulbs in the wonky chandelier above him finally settle down and Kyungsoo drops his bag to the ground, wishing he could go back to his tiny apartment in seoul with Chanyeol strumming something random on his guitar.</p><p>He was never close to his grandma, so he has no clue why his parents forced <em>him</em> to stay here after she’d passed two weeks ago but he guesses it's his fault for being the only one in the family without an actual job. It’s times like this Kyungsoo wonders what could’ve happened if he didn’t chicken out of sending that audition to sm entertainment (he’d convinced himself he sounded like a dying cat, although Chanyeol argues otherwise).</p><p>The house smells like death and it looks like nobody’s lived here for <em>years</em> – he wonders if his grandma died earlier than everyone’s letting on; he thinks maybe a decade ago would be more believable. realising he’s going to have to move away from the hallway sooner or later, Kyungsoo mentally prepares to take himself on a little tour around his hell on earth, a shiver flowing awkwardly through his body when a cold breeze hits him seemingly out of nowhere. Great, he hasn’t even walked into the living room yet and he just knows these next few weeks are about to be unbearable.</p><p>The lights, he soon finds out, are stubborn in every room (they don’t even turn <em>on</em> in the kitchen, which is going to be a problem since he cooks to relax, and he doubts the weak flame from the stove will be enough of a light source for him to handle dangerous shit like knives). Only one of the four bedrooms upstairs looks moderately inviting to him, and that just means not as much of the paint is peeling off the walls. He’ll change the bedsheets later – when he’s not focusing on swallowing the lump in his throat and stopping his left hand from shaking. His usually strong legs give way below his heavy chest and he pathetically falls to the floor with a thud.</p><p>Don’t get him wrong, Kyungsoo’s never been much of a crier, but right now, alone in some dead woman’s house that is practically falling apart brick by brick, he can’t help but let his eyes glass over. He’s <em>scared</em>, god damn it, he’s scared and alone and he wants to leave but he <em>can’t</em> and for the first time in a very long while, he feels completely useless. A tear makes its way down his full cheeks and drips onto the floorboard. Then another, and another and another, until he’s lost control and it’s impossible to tell which is a new tear clanging on the floor and which is just the echo of a past one.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>One mental breakdown and an hour later, here he was, standing in his new room with clean sheets on his (half-broken) bed, and a huge resentment for whoever the fuck built this house. His stomach roars loudly, pulling him away from his wandering mind – he hasn’t eaten in so long and he doesn’t have a working kitchen. He wants to go home so, so bad. He can’t though, so instead he pulls out his phone from his back jeans pocket and searches for the nearest café, his empty belly angry at the lack of homemade Kyungsoo jjajangmyeon. There’s one five minutes away, three if he speedwalks it, and frankly, he’s very keen to get the fuck out of this building as fast as he can.</p><p>He’s reminded of how nice Busan is outside, despite his grandmother’s nightmare-inducing home, when he steps outside into sunlight and the smell of blossoming flowers; there’s also bustling chatter and some light giggles when he walks farther into the public. Maybe he’ll survive his stay here if he spends as much time outside as possible (Kyungsoo chooses to ignore this means staying in the presence of lots of strangers for the whole day without a single person to comfort him, because he doesn’t plan on driving himself anymore insane than he already has).</p><p>The navigation on his phone tells him to turn the corner, and sure enough, there stands small colourful café, and he lets out another light grumble as the scent of chocolate cake and coffee waft through the open windows. He avoids eye contact with the couple walking by – who don’t bother hiding their judging faces directed towards him and his loud stomach (it's not like he's clearly here to shut it up or anything, but whatever) – and walks in, relieved to see the very short queue waiting in front of him.</p><p>He orders an iced latte and two chocolate cake slices and some shortbread because he wants something sweet after his sad little crying session, so sue him. He reaches into his bag to pick out his wallet to pay and, well <em>fuck</em>. His bag is still at his grandma’s place. He blinks sadly at the person behind the till, and she looks unimpressed as his belly chooses <em>now</em>, in front of everyone, as the best time to rumble again.</p><p>He’s about to apologise for wasting her time when a hand falls on his shoulder and he looks behind on instinct to see a (very fucking attractive, what the fuck? who just walks around looking that good? what the fuck? holy shit) guy who he’s never met. He looks down and finds the other handing his credit card to the girl and sliding it to pay without punching in his pin number. So mystery Busan man is pretty <em>and</em> here to save Kyungsoo from impending public humiliation?  Thank you deceased grandma for your dark, scary home, seriously, thank you.</p><p>“You gonna take your food or keep staring, Sweet Tooth?” the pretty boy asks, paying for his own order of just an iced latte. Kyungsoo barely stops himself from blushing; so much for being saved from public humiliation. He has a nickname – holy fuck – a pretty boy just gave him a nickname.</p><p>He says this really smart response that is vaguely along the lines of, “Uhh um yeah. Thanks for… um yeah… yeah,” and takes his tray away with him to a table very, very far away from the till and from the pretty boy who he hopes isn’t judging him too hard right now. How the fuck did he mess up that bad when all he had to do was take his cake and leave?? Kyungsoo doesn’t exactly know what he’s feeling when he sees the guy walk up to where he’s chosen to sit, iced latte in one hand, phone in the other.</p><p>“I’m not going to ask you why you just ran away from me and instead assume it’s because you’re a little embarrassed you showed up to buy shit without bringing any money,” he can’t stop the blush this time, so he looks down to pick up his fork and play with a slice of cake. “What’s your name, Sweet Tooth? I haven’t seen you before and your appetite,” he points to the tray of sugary foods, “makes me think you’re a man of taste.”</p><p>He looks up again, praying he’s not being fucked with right now, like the boy in front of him has his friends hiding around ready to laugh at him or something. “It’s Kyungsoo, and I don’t normally eat like this, I swear, it’s just I sort of really needed to feel better… or something, I don’t know.” Mystery Man smiles as he sips his cold drink and Kyungsoo takes his lead and stops making a mess of his cake to drink some of his too.</p><p>He finally starts eating the first slice of cake because even though he feels awkward as hell right now, mystery man did pay for it and he would feel ten times worse if he wasted everything right in front of him. “You’re not much of a talker, are you, Kyungsoo?” he asks and even that short sentence makes him nervous. Pretty boys have a lot of fucking power.</p><p>He finishes chewing before replying, because he’s not disgusting. “I never really know what to say, I’m sorry for making this all so awkward,” once again avoiding eye contact and <em>really</em> longing for Chanyeol next to him to calm his nerves down. The thought of his best friend gently holding his hand under the table, softly squeezing it every now and then, is enough to ease his mind, bringing him back to reality so he can look up at the other man’s face.</p><p>Mystery Man is gazing at him with sympathy in his eyes and normally Kyungsoo hates to be pitied, but he has such soft features and rosy cheeks that make Kyungsoo feel peaceful and cared for and <em>understood</em>. Despite them having only just met, despite them being absolute strangers – he still doesn’t know Mystery Man’s name – he’s comfortable sitting here with him.</p><p>“It’s probably not much help, but there’s no need to worry, Sweet Tooth. If there’s anything I can do to make this less stressing for you, your wish is my command.” Mystery Man is the entire package, Kyungsoo thinks. “I’m Baekhyun, by the way, I just realised we went this entire time without me telling you that.”</p><p>“Even his name is pretty, of course it is,” he hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but luckily it doesn’t seem as though it came out any louder than a whisper, Baekhyun giving him a confused look before he’d shrugged it off. Then his big brain did something useful for once, and he hopes this isn’t going to backfire as he asks, “Could I have your number? I don’t know anyone here and I think it’s fairly obvious to say I’m not exactly social enough to prance around talking to strangers,” he unknowingly holds his breath as he watches the end of Baekhyun’s lips quirk into a small smile.</p><p>This was the end of it, he’d crossed a line and he was about to have a pretty boy laugh at his attempt to keep in contact because he can never read a situation right and Baekhyun actually never planned on talking to him ever again and he flinches when Baekhyun opens his mouth to mock him. Except instead of that, he’s asking for Kyungsoo’s phone and in shock, he slowly picks it out of his pocket and unlocks it, handing it over.</p><p>Baekhyun types in his number and even calls it so Kyungsoo can see his phone on the table light up with the notification. He watches as he saves his contact under the name 'sweet tooth' and returns Kyungsoo’s now locked phone back into his hands. He offers to share his cake with him, since he paid for it anyway, and they manage to finish the chocolatey dessert and shortbreads together. Kyungsoo tries not to feel too sad when the other has to leave, knowing he’s now just a text away.</p><p>Taking the last sip of his iced latte, he checks the time on the watch Chanyeol had gifted him (he never goes anywhere without it) and curses at the fact it‘s getting late. Baekhyun had been so nice and so pretty he’d let himself get lost in their time and forgot how horrible the place he has to go back to is. He takes a small breath in, remembers he has someone new to look forward to here and starts to make his way to his grandma’s dark and dusty house while he still has the sunlight and flowers to see.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He's a few steps away from that irritating door when his screen lights up with the name ‘Chanyeollie!!’ and his contact photo of that time he and Kyungsoo went to a dog park and his best friend got cuddled by at least eight puppies at once. It’s impossible not to smile looking at the huge grin on Chanyeol’s face as he gets absolutely smushed by fur and tails, with tongues licking all over him. Kyungsoo is thankful Hell at least has phone service, if nothing else.</p><p>Of course, he picks up immediately, recoiling when he’s greeted with yelling from the other side of the line, “Hey buddy, maybe speak at a volume that doesn’t deafen me when I’m stuck alone in a scary new city, yeah?” He laughs softly at Chanyeol’s quick apology, who seems genuinely sorry and Kyungsoo is once again reminded just how much he loves his best friend, not that he ever really forgets.</p><p>“So how’s this house then? Is it really big and fancy or like full of ghosts and shit?” He hears him jump onto what sounds like a bed full of nice fluffy pillows and a warm duvet and Kyungsoo tries not to think about how the floor would probably break through the downstairs ceiling if he tried to do that with <em>his</em> new bed.</p><p>He sticks his key into the keyhole and mutters, “Take a listen to this and try to figure it out yourself,” grimacing another time as he pushes the door open and it cries out with an awful scream that seems to go on for even longer than the last time. He steps inside and sighs before closing it, locking it after he’s finally left in silence.</p><p>Chanyeol’s voice almost scares him in the dark but Kyungsoo pulls himself together. “Well. That is certainly loud. Not very fancy but if I were a ghost I would not want to listen to that so I guess you’re safe,” Kyungsoo chuckles at that. “What even was it? If you try to tell me that was the front door and not some hidden one to the attic that you’re never gonna open again I will literally come over and pick you up right now.” He’s met with silence, gasps dramatically, then continues, “Dude how are you gonna survive? I want you back home where the only annoying and loud thing you have to hear 24/7 is <em>me</em> I don’t like this new competition I have, what the fuck? Do Kyungsoo are you replacing me with a door?” The pout on his lips is obvious by just his voice alone and Kyungsoo doesn’t need to see the other to know how he looks as he speaks the words.</p><p>The lights flicker noisily as he turns them on. “Listen Yeol, I wanna go back even more than you could ever imagine but there’s nothing I can do and plus,” he picks his bag up from the ground, slumping it loosely over his right shoulder, “I guess I have Baekhyun now or whatever.” His attempt at trying to sound nonchalant about the pretty man from earlier fails dismally and Kyungsoo swears if he increased his phone’s volume a bit, he would be able to hear Chanyeol’s eyebrows wiggling suggestively. “Please don’t make this weird, all he did was pay for my food because I forgot my wallet and then we talked for a bit,” he prays the other will let this go – the thought of Baekhyun makes his palms a little sweaty.</p><p>“My little boy is pulling!” he all but squeals, full of glee and pride, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and reminds Chanyeol that he isn’t much of a little boy at all. “Yeah, yeah, is he hot?” He makes the mistake of hesitating. “Oh my fucking God you really <em>are</em> pulling. I’m so proud. I’ve never been more proud of you. Apart from that one time when you kissed that random guy at that club – man that was <em>whack</em>, you were so drunk, remember that? Holy shit…” Kyungsoo lets him waffle on about ten million different topics because his voice takes him home and it’s not like he has anything else to do in here.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>He misses Chanyeol as soon as he hangs up because his partner was calling him over. Kyungsoo came to understand four years ago that the one person his best friend loves more than him is Jihoon and although that was hard to deal with at first, he finds it admirable now. Chanyeol’s so deeply in love with them and every time he sees the two together it makes him yearn for the same type of relationship.</p><p>Jihoon’s similar to Kyungsoo: they keep to themself – new things and strangers make them uncomfortable but as soon as they get into their element, with people they trust? A whole different person entirely. After they’d managed to create a bond with each other as per Chanyeol’s many requests, it became easy to forget the three years between them and just enjoy being with someone so alike themselves. He likes to think that if they’ve scored a four-year relationship with someone who understands them through and through, maybe there’s hope for himself after all.</p><p>When he walks into his room, this time level headed and not about to start bawling his eyes out, he notices the dark material draped from a black pole attached to the wall. The unmistakable shape of curtains sparks something a little like hope inside him. Curtains mean windows, and windows mean-</p><p>Light pours through the dirtied glass and into the small space around him the instant he pulls the cloths apart – albeit not very brightly because it’s late and the Sun is almost entirely out of sight, but it’s <em>there</em>. Kyungsoo can’t help the small laugh that falls from his lips. He was overreacting before, even though this is definitely not going to be the best time of his life, he’ll manage it. Everything is going to be just <em>fine</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Tiredness takes some time to properly catch up with him. He’d gone through a long day and he was on his own in a new setting for the majority of the hours, and it hits him just how badly he wants to go to sleep. He has the sudden urge to start dreaming of something completely nonsensical that only makes sense to Sleeping Kyungsoo and then remember nothing when he wakes up. Nothing bad happens when he’s asleep and although this trip looks like it’s taking a turn for the better, his mind is his own worst enemy and he can’t hurt himself by overthinking if he’s not thinking at all.</p><p>He closes the curtains, the moon taking over the sky by now, covered every so often by roaming clouds. 97% is what the battery on his phone reads so he pulls it off charge, worrying slightly that the house would burn down overnight if he doesn’t. The duvet is flimsy and the covers are scratchy but if he focuses really hard on other things (Chanyeol’s dopey laugh and Baekhyun’s pink-tinted cheeks), they become less of a bother to his sleepy state.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Maybe thinking about Baekhyun just before he drifted off to sleep was a little bit of a mistake because he knows dreaming about someone you’ve only just met is creepy and weird, yet here he is. The man is sat in a big, velvet armchair that almost resembles a throne if Kyungsoo squints slightly. He’s staring straight through him and Kyungsoo turns with curiosity to see two more people, both holding objects covered loosely in dark red cloths. There’s a laptop screen on a desk behind them displaying a News channel without any sound playing and sure enough, Kyungsoo can’t read the words on the red header as the reporter moves her mouth to describe whatever events took place.</p><p>“Yixing and I found someone,” the taller announces with a smirk pulling his lips, “he’s some random guy who nobody knows or cares about, it’s the perfect opportunity.” Kyungsoo sucks in a breath.  The one who hasn’t spoken yet (he supposes his name is probably Yixing) looks directly at him and skin burns with fire as terror shoots up his spine.</p><p>Yixing eyes at him for a few seconds before he looks away to talk to Baekhyun, “he hasn’t left his house to actually meet with anyone in over four months so nobody’s gonna talk.” He’s got to stop being so paranoid, they’re clearly not talking about him and besides, this a is a <em>dream</em>, it doesn’t mean anything; there are no consequences in the real world from this conversation. That doesn’t stop his cheeks from heating up when he hears that delicate voice and Kyungsoo thinks once again that pretty boys have too much power.</p><p>“Then I’ll do it tomorrow night,” he’s gotten up and walked through where Kyungsoo is standing and he watches with awe as little particles of himself dissipate into the air at the intrusion. It tingles a little and maybe if Baekhyun’s cheekbones weren’t coated with traces of glitter, he would have noted that it’s weird he’s able to feel physical things when he’s still dreaming. As of right now, he’s fascinated by the way the pretty man takes a wipe from a pack next to the laptop and clears his face of makeup with grace, later dropping it in a small bin in the corner of the room.</p><p>On his way back, he stops in front of the two, turning to the one who spoke first, “Sehun, I want you to do what you can to get close to the other one. He should really trust you so nothing links back to us when we finally have the chance. Do whatever you want, just don’t blow it.” Kyungsoo has no idea what they’re all on about but it seems to make perfect sense to Sehun, who just nods with a sense of duty.</p><p>Suddenly there’s a shift in the air, and all three people shoot around to glare at Kyungsoo with cold eyes. The red cloth slips from Yixing’s hands from the jerking movement, fluttering to the ground and uncovering the silver that was hiding underneath. His head feels fuzzy as they slowly creep towards him, until he’s being pushed to the ground, small particles flying in all directions and just as he shuts his eyes in fear, he hears a faint humming in the distance.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When he cautiously cracks his eyes open, heart pumping at an incredibly rapid rate, he can’t see anyone else. There’s no Baekhyun or Sehun or Yixing; it’s just him on the floor of the room, and his phone vibrating next to him. He’s still scared shitless but apparently it’s 9:00 in the morning so (ignoring the texts from his mum and Chanyeol and <em>Baekhyun</em>), he gets up and shoves the curtains apart in a hurry, relaxing when the darkness in the room quickly fades away.</p><p>Turns out his mind <em>can</em> make bad things happen when he’s asleep but he’s comforted by the fact that nothing was real. The whole thing was all just a horrible nightmare because his brain can’t handle the fact that a pretty boy like Baekhyun took an interest in him - his old therapist was right, he really has to start letting himself enjoy things. God, he needs some cereal.</p><p>Miraculously, the bathroom has running water and a flushing toilet (with toilet paper!) and as he brushes his teeth, he thinks about how he’s managed to set the bar so low. He scurries through the small suitcase he’d brought with him to find a new hoodie and some jeans after treading back into his room.</p><p>He brings his phone with him downstairs after changing, flashlight on as he goes in the kitchen and opens the multiple dusty cabinets in search for a bowl. He had shoved a small box of cornflakes in his bag but he’d have to eat them dry because he wasn’t in the mood to go out and buy milk.</p><p>After a couple of minutes, Kyungsoo finds the right drawer, filled to the brim with bowls upon bowls, and takes one out; he washes it under the tap with his phone secure in his mouth because unfortunately, he only has two hands. The lack of milk allows him to pour more cereal into the bowl than he would have otherwise and he enjoys his gourmet meal of dry cornflakes in silence, staring into the nothingness surrounding him.</p><p>Not bothering to clean up, he leaves the house and locks the door, quickly following the gravel path laid out in front of him and only slowing down when the house is out of sight. When he’s at a safe distance away, he checks the messages he had ignored to find Baekhyun asking to show him around today. Excitement rushes through him, although a small part of his brain is still a little on edge after the nightmare.</p><p>Disregarding his worries, he texts Baekhyun <em>‘i would like that’ </em>to which he replies almost immediately with <em>‘meet me at the café from yesterday’</em> and <em>‘give me five minutes’</em>. Following his orders, Kyungsoo walks to where he had the day before and tries to contain his nerves as he waits for him. He catches a glimpse of those delicate cheekbones and mentally encourages himself not to make any stupid decisions this time around.</p><p>Baekhyun grins when he spots him outside the entrance, eyes lighting up like there are stars scattered in them. He skips over to where he’s stood and Kyungsoo has to try his hardest to stay sane as he grabs his hand in his and pulls him away without a word. They pass by buildings that look way more welcoming than his grandma’s house ever could until they stop by an open black gate. Dark green vines are wrapping around the edges, small pink and yellow flowers budding across them.</p><p>“This is my favourite park ever,” Baekhyun announces while looking adorable as ever. He drops Kyungsoo’s hand gently and rushes forward into the green, twisting around and gesturing his hands to urge the other to follow. Of course, he does without hesitation, although he might enjoy the view of the pretty boy in front of him giggling and spinning around cutely more than the still trees and gliding birds. How the hell did his brain manipulate this personification of innocence into some evil mastermind?</p><p>He can only hope his ears aren’t too red as he comes darting towards him, eventually bumping right into each other, which forces laughter out of the both of them. They lay down on the grass next to each other – Kyungsoo cross-legged looking at Baekhyun on his back, face towards the clouds. “Isn’t this place amazing?” he asks, flopping his arms about.</p><p>“It sure is a park. With trees and stuff.” Great job Kyungsoo, that was an awesome answer.</p><p>Baekhyun’s giggle is all it takes for him to stop overthinking and because he’s an angel, he tells him, “You seem like someone who gets stressed a bunch, so maybe this place could help you relax a bit.” He sits up on his elbows to look at Kyungsoo as he continues, “I come here when things get messy and it feels so good.” How is he <em>real</em> when he’s so perfect? Unable to vocalise a sentence without sounding stupid, Kyungsoo just goes for a faint smile and hopes it conveys the appreciation he feels inside.</p><p>Around half an hour goes by as they have random small conversations and Kyungsoo now knows the other is older by just short of a year, and more importantly, that his voice is fucking <em>beautiful</em>. It’s full and gorgeous and he thinks he fell in love for the few seconds he’d sung bits of pop songs he likes.</p><p>As Kyungsoo drifts off to another world filled with his pretty boy singing the chorus of DEAN’s 21 over and over again, said pretty boy jumps up from the ground and reminds the both of them that he was supposed to show him around the town. He doesn’t complain as the elder drags him around buildings and through winding paths, spewing facts and information because it’s with <em>him</em>.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>He can’t help but feel disappointed when he stops mid-sentence to pick up the phone that had started ringing, moving away from Kyungsoo to speak in a hushed voice to whoever was on the other end of the call. Standing dumbly and picking at the skin on his fingers, he pouts when Baekhyun apologises because he has to leave, cutting their day together short.</p><p>Within less than a minute, he’s stood alone in a place he had only just been introduced to and he can feel his anxiety starting to spike with every breath he takes in. As if on autopilot, he finds himself pivoting, following the paths Baekhyun had shown him and he doesn’t know how, but he’s stood by that big black gate again. His chest loosens as he steps inside and out of nowhere, he feels fine.</p><p>Figuring he’s going to stay here for a while, Kyungsoo sits down – on a bench this time – and places an earphone in his left ear, connecting it to his phone and playing 21 on repeat, settling for DEAN’s angelic voice instead of Baekhyun’s. Someone sits down beside him: another insanely pretty boy with a sharp jawline that contrasts with his plump lips and shimmering eyes. He can’t help but stare.</p><p>The new handsome stranger peers over and Kyungsoo quickly diverts his eyes to the ground. “Hello?” he grimaces with embarrassment as the man speaks.</p><p>“Hi,” he mumbles meekly, looking back at him.</p><p>“I’m Jongin,” he’s smiling warmly and he wonders whether Busan is filled with pretty men or if he just scored the fucking jackpot with where his grandma used to live.</p><p>“Kyungsoo,” he responds. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, you’re just like.. really..” he drifts off before he says anything to humiliate him any further. Jongin just smiles at him; he quite likes looking at his smiling face.</p><p>After what could now be called practice with Baekhyun, it’s easier to become somewhat friends with Jongin quickly and he only overthinks his motives twice during their conversation, so he thinks he deserves some sort of medal. Once again he finds himself leaving the pretty boy with his number saved on his phone, and he walks back home with a muted feeling of accomplishment.</p><p>After he suffers the wrath of his front door splitting his ears open again, Jongin texts him saying he’d enjoyed meeting and that he was happy to have met a new friend out of the blue – Kyungsoo’s glad nobody is around him to watch his cheeks and the tips of his ears dust with red when he reads it.</p><p>There are no messages from Baekhyun however, which dampens his mood a little but he tries not to let it affect him too much. He really shouldn’t have this much control over Kyungsoo after two days of knowing him.</p><p>The last few hours of the day are spent with Kyungsoo sitting in the garden, overgrown grass and weeds making it look more like a forest. It feels a bit other-worldly, as if he were intruding in a home for pixies or something. It a stupid thought, but cute. Because he’s outside, he can watch as the Sun and moon trade places, and as the stars start glittering in the darkness. It’s pretty. Everything here is pretty.</p><p>Unlike yesterday, he’s not all that sleepy but he still doesn’t like this haunted house he’s been expected to stay in, so he says <em>fuck it</em>. Grabbing a coat and pulling it on, he walks back to the park, making sure to lock the door and that he has his phone safe in his pocket. The midnight air outside is much fresher than in the centre of Seoul and Kyungsoo tries to take it all in.</p><p>Those black gates are still open, and there are a few lampposts dotted around, gently illuminating the empty park. Well, almost empty, because he can see the silhouettes of two people walking together a few feet ahead of him, one slightly behind another. It’s pretty harmless, so he doesn’t think much of it.</p><p>Until the one ahead looks behind and starts running. Kyungsoo quietly hurries closer to the action, ready to call the police if needed. He hides behind the leaves of this really big tree and watches the scene in front of him – he has to shove his hand in his mouth to stop the shriek wanting to rip out of his throat.</p><p>The silhouette that had tried to run away is now tied to one of the lampposts, and the other has what looks like to be a knife, but it’s hard to make out in the dim light. His suspicions are confirmed when not a minute later, they’re cutting into the poor person’s chest, heart-breaking wails repeatedly being shouted at the pain.</p><p>He’s fucking petrified, frozen and deeply regretting every decision he’s ever made and he wants to help, but he doesn’t exactly know <em>how</em>. He slowly reaches down for his phone, trying not to make any noise to give him away when the new angle lets him see the face of the attacker.</p><p>Kyungsoo stands dead still. What the fuck is he looking at? Is that.. no.. no it can’t be…. His mind is playing tricks on him, because it’s late and dark and he’s paranoid. He pretends he doesn’t hear the scream or see the red dripping to the concrete. He pretends he doesn’t see <em>him</em>. He’s not seeing Baekhyun, there is absolutely no way that’s the boy who was prancing around in this very park just earlier that day.</p><p>If he was scared before, it doesn’t even come close to how he feels now and he can only stand and stare as the Baekhyun lookalike drops something on the ground and proceeds to… stitch up the other’s body? What the fuck?</p><p>It only gets more horrific when he pulls out a fucking drill and starts to force a hole into the middle of their forehead, blood spewing onto the concrete and the sound of the skull crushing barely covered by the drill. Any hope that the victim is still alive dies then and there. Then the shadowy figure continues to do even more, apparently not satisfied with the amount of torture the other had gone through.</p><p>Kyungsoo has no clue how he doesn’t pass out when the psychopath quickly dashes at the sound of police sirens, unblocking his view of the now dead body. His shirt’s been ripped open, drained in dark red blood and his chest has careful stitches in a rectangle around where his heart should be.</p><p><em>Should be</em>, but isn’t. His heart lays on the ground next to him, still beating slowly in fallen leaves and dirt. Kyungsoo takes in a shaky breath before looking up at his forehead. The hole that had been drilled has got string threaded through it, with a sort of note attached. It’s so gory and dreadful and he needs to <em>leave</em>.</p><p>He looks like a mess, tears coating his face and mind forever scarred as he runs towards the gate, opposite the direction the killer had taken. He must look insane but he couldn’t care less as he doesn’t stop running until he reaches his grandma’s house. Suddenly, it feels a lot more welcoming than outside.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this is short but i havent updated in a while bc my mocks want me dead, so i wanted to get smth out quickly to move the plot along !!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kyungsoo doesn’t make it upstairs, instead falling asleep on the sofa in the living room. He doesn’t have any nightmares this time and he figures it’s because he’d gone through more than enough trauma during his time awake. There’s a small feeling of déjà vu as he groggily blinks his eyes open in the morning to the sound of his phone vibrating next to him.</p><p>There are a lot missed calls from Chanyeol followed with numerous anxious texts saying the murder case had already made its way onto the news broadcasts and that he was worried sick over whether his best friend was safe. Jongin’s also checked in to ask if he had heard what happened and how gruesome the details given were – Kyungsoo wishes he’d only been <em>told</em> the details instead of having his brain permanently burned with the actual image.</p><p>Through all the notifications he scrolls through, there’s not a single one from Baekhyun. Kyungsoo tries to go back to last night, picture the face that had done such horrific things with what looked what looked to be glee, but he just can’t remember it right; his brain had been too clouded with terror to function in the pitch black. He wants to confront him about it, but he doesn’t know how to tell someone <em>‘Hey I just saw someone fucking kill a dude in the most nightmarish way possible and I think the murderer looked like you but I couldn’t really see anything properly because it was late at night so could you like, reassure me that you’re not a psychopath?’ </em></p><p>After he tells Chanyeol that he is, in fact, alright (he leaves out the part about now being horror-struck and paranoid of every single person that lives in this damned city for the other’s peace of mind), Kyungsoo swallows his fear and opens the news app he’d opened maybe twice in his life before. Right at the top, the first headline reads: <em>BUSAN BODY BRUTALLY BUTCHERED!</em></p><p>Usually the overuse of alliteration would make him snicker – whoever wrote that must have patted themselves on the back with way too much pride – but this isn’t a piece of non-fiction literature he needs to pick apart for an essay, this is <em>real life</em>. Someone had died, no, someone had been <em>murdered</em> in such a monstrous way and people were still trying to come up with fun little ways to tag it.</p><p>Sighing, he clicks open the article to find out nothing he didn’t already know. The explanation of what took place is fairly watered down compared to what he’d witnessed, and there are no leads as to who the cutthroat creature is. There’s also nothing written about who the <em>victim</em> actually was, no name or age – Kyungsoo doesn’t know if he feels unease or relief at that.</p><p>He’s way too scared to walk out the house today and actually buy food, so he figures dry cornflakes will have to get him through the next twenty-four hours. Most of the day is spent with him facetiming Chanyeol, and after the other had seen him with all his limbs attached, their usual conversations went ahead. The sight of his best friend’s big dopey eyes and floppy ears, which slightly tinge pink every time Jihoon makes another snarky comment all makes Kyungsoo feel so much safer. He almost allows himself to forget there’s a murdering maniac on the loose.</p><p>Alas, they need to end their call at some point, so they resentfully say their goodbyes and without the security of Chanyeol’s bubbly laugh, anxiety simmers up in his chest once more. There’s a <em>murdering maniac</em> on the fucking loose and he doesn’t know anyone here and there’s a chance that one of the two people he <em>has</em> got any sort of connection with will cut his heart out of his fucking chest. How the <em>fuck</em> did he get thrown into this?</p><p>Speaking of the devil, his phone lights up with a text from Baekhyun. Kyungsoo nervously holds his breath as his eyes skim the words, <em>‘i just woke up dude wtf happened here last night?’</em> and then a few seconds later, <em>‘of course my phone breaks down the one night i actually need to know what’s going on in this place’</em>.</p><p>Oh. So that’s why he hadn’t called since he left yesterday; Kyungsoo has really got to stop being so tense and overanxious of people just trying to live their lives. Maybe the person he saw yesterday really did just <em>look</em> like him and that was it, maybe Kyungsoo had imagined up Baekhyun’s face because his brain connected the real situation with that stupid dream he’d had. It’s embarrassing to think that the first person that came to mind was the pretty boy who pitied him but he knows it’s not something illogical, given his stupid gay brain that goes numb at the thought of someone like Baekhyun.</p><p>Because said stupid gay brain is still absolutely terrorised (reasonably so), he unlocks his phone, evading Baekhyun’s texts, and opens Spotify. He never responds, instead opting to listen to the playlist Chanyeol had made him a month ago; he falls asleep again before the sixth song starts. All in all, he thinks spending the whole day cooped up in a ball on his sofa and talking to Chanyeol was the best use of his time.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>so.. long time no see, sorry !! i havent had much motivation to hop onto word and keep writing about unrequited love for binsung but here's some horror shoved onto the exos :DD</p></blockquote></div></div>
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